Habit



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No. 320,954. Patented June 80, 1885.

N. PETERS. PhoIo-Lltfwgnphar. Wuhlngton. me.

(Mod'eL) v v 5 SheetsSheet 2.

G. MULLER.

LADYS RIDING HABIT.

No. 320,964. Patented June 30,1885.

WITNESSES:

u. PEI'ERS mmnu npm. Wahlllgton, no.

(ModeL) 5SheetS-Sheet G. MULLER.

LADYS RIDING HABIT.

No. 320,954. Patented Jul 1e 30,1885.

WITNESSES: INVENTOR (ModeL) 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 G. MULLER.

LADYS RIDING HABIT. No. 320,954. Patented June 80, 1885.

WITNESSES: INVENTOR (ModeL) 5 Sheet sSheet 5. r G. MULLER. LADYS RIDING HABIT. No. 320,954. Patented June 30, 1885.

WITNESSES: INVENTOR m ball W E in, 6

NITED STATES PATENT Fries.

GEORGE MULLER, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO HUGHES & MI ILLER, OF SAME PLACE.

LADYS RIDING-HABIT.

SPECIFICATEON forming part of Letters Patent No. 320,954, dated June 30, 1885.

Application filed July 14, 1884.

To all whont it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE MI'JLLER, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city and county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain Improvements in Ladies Riding-Habits, of which the f0llowing is a specification.

Heretofore, as is well known among tailors, great difficulty has been experienced in so fitting and making up the skirts of ladies riding-habits as to cause them to fit over the concealed pommels of the saddle witlout at the same time causing them to crease and wrinkle about the pommels and under the buttock of the rider and so to become uncomfortable.

Their pattern and shape have heretofore also ture of a riding-habit skirt of such pattern,

contour, and general make-up as will cause it not only to naturally conform to the attitude of the rider upon the saddle, but to fit about the pommel, and to retain certainly and reliably itsposition with respect to the saddle, the horse, and the limbs of the rider.

The foregoing objects I attain by making a habit-skirt of the character and in the manner hereinafter set forth, and which in general terms may be said to consist in a new article of manufacture, a riding-habit skirt shaped to embody both the form of the pommel-knee and of the buttock of the rider, and provided with a suitably-placed slit, slot, or opening conveniently inclosed by a plaited gusset, so as to constitute it a pommel-pocket adapted to admit through it or receive the pommels without necessitating the folding over them of the entire fabric of the habititself.

In the accompanying drawings, which variously represent a habit-skirt embodying my (ModeL) limbs of the rider and of the concealed pommels of the saddle are indicated in dotted lines. Fig. 3 is an oblique rear View of the skirt as it appears before the wearer is mounted. Figs. 4 and 5 are side elevations, respectively, of the back and ofthc fore part of the skirt as the latter appears before the wearer is mounted and when the said skirt is held up by its knee. Fig. 6 is'a perspective View representing the seat formed in the skirtas it appears when the wearer is mounted, sight being taken obliquely forward over the haunches of the horse from the pocket side of the saddle. Figs. 7 and 8 are side elevations, respectively, of the fore part and of back of the skirt as the latter appears before being put on and when folded or creased in the line of the knee-seam. Fig. 9 is a View of the back pattern of the skirt, and Fig. 10 of the fore part or apron pattern.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

In the manufacture of the skirt I make use of two patterns, (respectively represented in Figs. 9 and 10,) A being the pattern of the back of the skirt, and B the pattern of the apron or fore part of the skirt. The cloth is usual practice of merchant tailors. Assume that the patterns A and B represent pieces of cloth out to the shape depicted. That line or edge of the pattern A which is included be tween the letters a a is termed the longer lap-line, and is intentionally curved or bellied out in the manner shown, and adapted to be stitched or otherwise suitably united to that line or edge of the pattern 13 which is included between the letters I) b, and is termed the shorter lap-line, an even union of the said lap-lines of the two patterns being accomplished by shrinking the longer lap-line to the length of the shorter and working the latter up to the length of the former. When the gether in the above union, a knee will be formed in the habit, which is represented in Figs. 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 of the drawings, and designated by the letter K. The outline of the lap-lines and the working of the two lines together are intentionally such that the said knee K formed in the skirt corresponds in position when the latter is in place on the rider, and she in place on the horse, with the then position of the pommel-knee of the rider, while the seam formed by the union of said lap-lines, and which I term the knee-seam It, follows the line of the pommel-leg from thigh to ankle, and is central with respect to the front fold of the habit about said leg in the position assumed by the rider upon the horse. After the lap-lines have been united the two seat-lines, which are of the same length, and respectively designated in the drawings, Figs. 9 and 10, as e a b b are brought together and stitched or united in the usual manner to form a back seam, G, Figs. 3, 6, and 8, which, when the skirt is put on, is central with the back of the rider, as especially shown in Fig. 3, and which, when the wearer is mounted, comes under the buttock and against the skirt of the saddle so as to be concealed from view from the front side. The back pattern of the skirt is also as to its upper part provided with cuts d, as represented in Fig. 9, which in the making up of the skirt are stitched together and appear as indicated in Fig. 8. The fore part of the skirt is as to its upper portion likewise provided with a cut, 6, and with a pocket-slit, F, as shown in Fig. 10. In the making up of the habit the cut 6 is stitched together and appears as indicated in Fig. 7, while the pocket-slit is provided with a fly and with a pocket. (Not shown in the drawings.) The back and fore parts being so as above described united with respect to their laplines and seat-lines, and the several cuts being closed, a waistband, G, of any usual character is applied about the upper portion or top of the habit, as represented in Figs. 7 and 8. The resultant effect of the cuts, as well as of the intentional bulging outline of the upper portions of the seat-lines, is to conform the rear top portion of the skirt into a bulging seat, S, substantially of the character represented in the drawings, and somewhat of the nature of the seat in mens trousers. This seat, which before the wearer is mounted appears, essentially,as shown in Figs. 3, 4, and 5, when the wearer is mounted, presents the skirt, and especially the back pattern thereof, correctly to the saddle, as shown in Figs. 1 and 6,

and tends to retain the said skirt against displacement upon the person of the rider. The back pattern A is, as indicated in Fig. 9, provided with what may be termedQan hourglass out, H, which is simply a slot, cut, or longitudinal opening, preferably, although by no means necessarily, of the form represented in said figure, and which is adapted in the making of the skirt to be shrunken or worked apart at its contracted central portion in the gusset is preferably silk or other lighter and more pliable fabric than that of which the habit proper is made. The plaited gusset, when secured in place with respect to its out, constitutes in the back pattern of the habit what I term a pommeLpocket, P, which, by its location and proportions, is adapted to seat itself over the second and third pommels, (or the second pommel and the horn, as the third pommel is sometimes termed,) which respectively engage the inner faces of the thighs of the rider, and which are represented in dotted lines in Fig. 2. The said pocket, therefore, serves to inclose or take in the pommels, and permit the back or under portion of the skirt to lie smoothly beneath the buttock and legs of the rider upon the seat and against the skirts of the saddle, thereby avoiding the hitherto necessary folding of the material of the skirt about the pommels and the consequent creasing and disarrangement of hang of said skirt; in other words, by the provision of this pocket, what is practically an opening or slot in the skirt is made, which is adapted to' take in the concealed pomniels, and so permit the material of the skirt itself, as already stated,to lie flat upon the saddle, and thereby prevent the disarrangement or twisting of either the fore part or back out of shape, while acting also to retain, under the action of the horse, the skirt down in place below the feet of the rider without necessitating recourse to straps, weights, or kindred retaining contrivances. The gusset is preferably plaited, both longitudinally and transversely, as shown in Fig. 8, so as to give ample length and breadth of gusset material for the taking in of the pommels. The pommel-pocket as a whole is quite capacious, and larger than the pommels so as to permit of a movement of the rider upon the saddle and with respect to the pommels without causing binding of or strains upon the skirt in any direction. The gusset material of the pocket is preferably silk or other light material, which in the event of the throwing of the rider will readily slip clear of the pommels, or, if unavoidably engaged therewith, will tear out so as to be in such regard safer than heavier material would be. Of course the character or arrangement of the plaits of the gusset is not material, the gusset as such being simply a pommcl-inclosing medium.

, It would be perfectly possible to secure all the essential advantages of the pommelzpocket Without applying any gusset to the slit or opening B and this because the gist of this feature of my invention resides in an opening in the back pattern of the skirt of suitable size and suitably located to take in the pommels. The slit alone will therefore constitute a pocket proper,and answer the purpose. although the gusseted pocket is a better finish and gives a better appearance to the habit when the wearer is unmounted.

Any desired cut or character of waist can be used with the skirt of my habit. lhe waist forms no part of the invention.

.It will be obvious from the foregoing description that my improvement has many advantages not possessed by habits of the old construction.

It is perhaps proper for me to add that either the front or the back pattern, or both, may, for economy of cloth, cutting, or kindred object, be made of more than one piece or breadth of cloth, it being,however, preferable to make each pattern of but a single piece.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- 1. As anew article of manufacture, aladys riding-skirt, the back-patternthat is to say, the under or saddle breadthof which is pro vided with an .opening which,when the skirt is worn upon a saddle, presents itself in such position as to receive the pommels, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. As a-new article of manufacture,a ladys riding-skirt, theback or saddle side of which is provided with a cut, slit, or kindred opening inclosed by, or containing a plaited gusset, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

3. As a new article of manufacture, a ladys ridingskirt, the apron-pattern of which is formed with ashort lap-line and the back pattern with a longer lap-line, the said two laptook, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

5. As a new article of manufacture, a ladys riding-skirt, the back or saddle side of which is provided with an opening or pommel-pocket and the fore part and back of which are conformed to the shape and contour of a knee, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

6. As a new article of manufacture, a ladys riding-skirt, the back or saddle side of which is provided with an opening or pommel-pocket, and the fore part and back of which are conformed to the shape and contour of a buttock, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

7. As a new artic';e of manufacture, aladys riding-skirt the back or saddle side of which is provided with an opening or pommel-pocket,

and the fore partIand back of which are con GEORGE MULLER.

'In the presence of J BONSALL TAYLOR, JOHN J OLLEY, J R. 

